


Man Talk and the Potential Consequences of Loving a Human

by The Author (Yours_The_Author)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Handplates (Undertale), But You'll Only See Two of Them, Emma - Freeform, Emma x Gaster, Emmibee, Emmibee x Gaster, F/M, Fantastic Racism, Good W. D. Gaster, Human!Emmibee, Implied Favoritism, In a Homestuck Sort of Way, OBMP AU, Off Brand Mercyplates AU, Prewar!AU, References to AU Canon, References to Professor Layton, The Gaster Family is Big, ZD, ZD Gaster, Zapf Dingbats, Zapf Dingbats Gaster, emster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:21:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24932182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yours_The_Author/pseuds/The%20Author
Summary: After hiding out from his family in a rain storm, Wingdings Gaster knows he has to go home. What he doesn't know is that a certain skeleton has come back to the village at the base of Mt Ebott, looking to talk MAN TALK. In which Wingdings has like, two supportive people in the whole village, including his brother and his human friend girl who is a girl and his friend that he likes.
Relationships: W. D. Gaster & Original Character(s), W. D. Gaster/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	Man Talk and the Potential Consequences of Loving a Human

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EmmiBee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmiBee/gifts).



> FIRST AND FOREMOST:  
> -  
> UNDERTALE BELONGS TO TOBY FOX  
> -  
> THE HANDPLATES AU BELONGS TO ZARLA (zarla – s . tumblr . com)  
> -  
> OBMP (OFF BRAND MERCY PLATES) BELONGS TO EMMIBEE (emmibeestuff . carrd . co) (offbrandmercyplates . tumblr . com)  
> -  
> PREWAR! AU ALSO BELONGS TO EMMIBEE (SEE ABOVE)  
> -  
> REMOVE SPACES IN BETWEEN THE WORDS TO GET THEIR WEB ADDRESSES!  
> -  
> THANK YOU!  
> \-------------  
> Howdy again, everyone. I'm The Author (I mean you could probably tell), and a few weeks ago, I wrote this for Ms. Emmibee, who is making a wonderful AU of an AU (and now also an AU of an AU of an AU) on Tumblr, which I've fallen in love with. It's just so sweet and cute and fluffy and a little hinting towards angsty times, and I'm just here for that. Also Ms. Emmibee is just a nice and cool person in general. She was very happy with this story I wrote for her, and she graciously gave me permission to post this story to my profile on this site, and now it is here!  
> -  
> Since I didn't explain it very well on here the first time I shared a story with this AU, I'll explain it here: Off Brand Mercy Plates is an AU based on the Handplates AU, wherein our protagonist Emmibee tries to make a better life for Wingdings Gaster and his sons (not that we'll hear him call them that until chapter 54356, probably, haha) and finds family and love. Chapter one (there's a story comic as well as just little fluffy doodles) has been completed recently, and chapter two has begun as well! Get excited!  
> -  
> And then one day she was like; "what if Emmibee and Gaster lived in the same village at the base of Mt. Ebott during the early days of the human/monster war and fell in love and fluff and angst ensued?" And the world said, "yes please, sign me up". Including me. Thus, the Prewar! AU of OBMP came to be.  
> -  
> Can I just say really quickly that I admire Ms. Emmibee? I can tell she has a whole logic and story for both AU worlds in place, begging to be unveiled, but I'm over here like "what if…? I just made up half of it on the go, except for the major beats? And even then, those are subject to big change?" I mean, that's just the life we author's live. A blessing, and a curse.  
> -  
> Anyway, this story is a combination of different comics and doodles Ms. Emmibee has made for the Prewar AU, including a doodle of Emmibee (called Emma in this AU) and Gaster sharing his scarf, chilling on an abandoned battlement, and Zapf Dingbats "ZD" Gaster (Gaster's oldest brother) being… well. You'll see (wink wonk).  
> -  
> Once again, thanks SO much to Ms. Emmibee for giving me permission to post this! And to my lovely readers… please enjoy.

The rain finally let up, and Wingdings sighed. _It was nice while it lasted,_ he thought. He stepped out from under the big tree on the edge of the village and felt the humid breeze blow through his slightly damp tunic. The tree, while not perfect at it, always provided the best cover, so it was the perfect place to go when he wanted to enjoy the rain. He closed his eye socket for a moment and turned his skull towards the sky, feeling the sun on his face. After a moment, he sighed and shook his head. There was no point in holding it off any longer.

Wingdings walked through the village towards the north west part, where his house was. Monsters and humans who also lived in the village passed by, talking or going about their business as usual, with an occasional certain kind of look thrown at a member of the other group.

He had made it to the middle of the village, not even five minutes from his house, when he heard a voice that always filled him with a feeling he had come to understand was called 'happiness'. "Wingdings!" He turned to see the young human woman running towards him, waving excitedly. She stopped right in the middle of a slightly deep mud puddle. She didn't seem to notice.

"Hello, Emma," Wingdings signed.

"Out in the rain again, huh?" She grinned up at him.

Wingdings adjusted his glasses shyly. He hadn't quite been able to place why he only seemed to do this in her grinning presence. The library didn't have any books on such a specific subject, and since the library was mostly owned by humans, he was a little unwilling to ask. "You know I like the rain. How it quiets the whole world for just a few hours..."

"And also how it mats the fuzz on your skull a bit?"

"What?" Wingdings reached up to the top of his skull and patted around. As she said, the thin layer of fuzz on his skull was sticking up in odd ways from the rain and wind. "Oh, you're right. I'll just-"

"Let me!" Emma insisted, taking his hands and pulling him to her level. She began to swipe the rain water from his fuzz and smooth it over, not noticing how some people seemed to pause and look for a moment.

Wingdings' skull flushed a bit. He liked inadvertent head pats as much as the next skeleton ~~especially from Emma~~ , but he felt a bit silly when she did this in public. Wingdings was not one to care much what others outside his (tiny) social circle thought of him, but he cared about privacy, and this sort of thing should be private! ...Right?

"All done," Emma said, patting him on the head and stepping back. "So... since the rain let up and the sun's out, the battlement should be dry by later tonight... do you want to meet up and-"

"EMMA!" A voice boomed. The human and monster jumped and looked to see an older human in a long cloak and hood that covered his face. The voice was easy enough to identify.

"Hi, Papa," Emma called, waving much less enthusiastically than she had been before.

"I am going to a meeting with another sorcerer to discuss the everyday applications of offensive magic."

"How can offensive magic be used that way?" Emma wondered.

"That's what we're going to discuss. You're coming with me; we will be back after the moon rises."

"But Papa-"

"No buts. Come along."

Emma groaned and turned to Wigndings. "Sorry, I have to-"

"Now," Papa warned, gesturing for her to come to him.

_I'll meet you there later,_ Emma signed a bit clumsily before hurrying towards her father. Wingdings waved after her and turned to continue home, noticing a few humans and monsters looking in his direction before they quickly turned away. He sighed and tugged at his scarf. People just couldn't keep out of other people's business, could they?

\---

Five minutes later, he was at his house. It was fairly big, not because his family was particularly wealthy (though they weren't poor, either), but because the family was big, even by monster standards. It was a good thing most of his siblings were older than him and had jobs, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to pay it off. Wingdings opened the small wooden box next to the door and pulled out his towel (designated his by the initials he had sewn into the fabric). Patting his clothes dry and wiping off the last of the rain water from his skull, he was finally presentable enough to go into the house. Wingdings put his hand on the handle, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open.

Aside from that, he did not announce his presence, opting to quietly make his way to his bedroom. Unfortunately, to get there, he'd have to go through the main sitting room and the kitchen, where the family ate. No one was in the sitting room, but...

"Wingdings Gaster."

Wingdings froze a bit before sitting at the table opposite his mother. "Good afternoon, Mother," he said, looking at her but not quite meeting her eyes. There was a book on the table, which he quickly grabbed and opened, not caring what it was. Luckily, it was one of his old favorites, "The Puzzling Legends of the Skeleton Queen: the History Behind the Golden Bone Puzzles" by Monster Hershel Layton.

"I see you're as eager to talk about this as I am," his mother interrupted.

He looked up from the first chapter. "I don't understand what you mean, Mother."

She narrowed her eye sockets at him in that way that always made his spine feel prickly and cold. "You know very well what I'm talking about, young man. Your reading habits," she gestured to the book, "are far below your abilities. You need to read more challenging books, something that will stretch your mind and make you smarter."

Wingdings looked down at the book. "The History of the Golden Bone Puzzle is _always_ a good book for keeping the mind sharp, Mother," he protested quietly.

His mother's cold gaze went icy. "That is a book for young monsters of the middle academic level. _You_ are at a higher level than that, and need to read books that match. Otherwise, you'll never learn anything new and be as smart as your siblings."

Wingdings hunched over a bit at that statement. He _was_ as smart as his siblings. He just hadn't had an opportunity to prove it yet, something to make his parents proud of him. That's one of the reasons why he was hoping he could find a connection between constellations and the Legendary Hidden Puzzle that no skeleton had ever found, let alone solved. If he did that, then his parents and siblings would _have_ to be proud of him!

It took him a second to realize his mother had begun talking again, but he knew better than to ask her to repeat herself. He'd have to use his deductive reasoning skills, and-

BANG!

Wingdings and his mother jumped at the sound of the front door slamming open against the wall. "Who goes there?!" His mother yelled. No one responded, and she got up, grumbling something that sounded like "your father and I will talk to you about this tonight", before hurrying to the front door, which was hidden off by the sitting room and a wall that separated the two rooms.

Wingdings heaved a long sigh, then turned to his book, trying to find the place he had left off.

Something heavy settled lightly on his head. "hey squirt. gotcha a new book." He could recognize those chirping ciphers anywhere.

"ZD!" Wingdings gasped, then he quickly corrected himself. "I mean... Brother, you're home."

ZD rolled the lights in his eye sockets around and tapped him again with the new book. "aw, c'mon, squirt; is that anyway to greet your big bro?"

"Well, Mother is just checking who is at the door..."

"yeah, that was me. hehe, watch this; she's gonna come back in," he lifted the book from Wingdings' head and sat next to where their mother had been, set down the book in front of him, then held up three fingers. "three, two, one-"

"It was probably some of those human delinquents. This is why I don't want you near that- ZAPF DINGBATS GASTER!" Their mother cried, though her shout was clearly more of surprise than of anger. "Oh, how's my son doing? It's been so long since you've been home!" She began fussing over the oldest Gaster brother ("Have you been eating well? How are your stats? Do you need to be healed? A mother's healing is always best for an injury!") Wingdings looked on, trying not to give away that ZD was crossing his eye lights at him from over their mother's shoulder.

"aw, mom, it's good to see you, too," ZD grinned at her, "but i'm only in town for a few days. i wanna spend some time with my little sibs! You mind givin' me and wingdings some privacy? man talk, ya know?"

Their mother looked a bit torn, but finally nodded. "Oh, alright. I'll let your father know you're in the village so he can come home early for dinner. Oh, it's so good to see you!" She hurried out of the house, making a point to close the door quietly.

ZD turned back to Wingdings. "sooo, squirt, how are...? oh." He looked at Wingdings downcast eye socket for a second before getting up and sitting next to him. "just ignore them. okay?"

"...Them?" Wingdings asked after a moment. "Only Mother was here."

"i know, but i also know everyone in this place gives you guff alla the time."

Wingdings took a breath. And then another. ZD patted him on the head gently until he calmed down. "I'm sorry, Brother-" he began.

"hey, don't gimme that. ya got nothin' to apologize for. now c'mon, i didn't come all the way here to make ya miserable."

"It's not your fault-"

"of course it's not. our parents kinda suck." Wingdings gaped at him. "what? it's true. anything that ain't perfection ain't worth lookin' at to 'em, and they're gonna miss on a lotta cool things 'cause of it. 'course, we know," ZD nudged Wingdings in the ribs lightly, "perfection doesn't exist. we can only be our best."

"We can always do better..." Wingdings said quietly.

ZD poked him in the forehead. "there's that mom mentality again. we'll work through it one day, just you wait. but anyway~" his voice turned sly and he got up and sat opposite his brother, waggling his bone brow at him. "i meant what i said when i told mom i wanted to talk man talk with ya."

Wingdings raised his own bone brow at him. "Yes, though I can't say I know what that is."

"well, first and foremost," ZD leaned across the table, making Wingdings lean away. "anyone special show up since i came by last year?"

Wingdings thought for a moment. "Well, a bard came through the town a few months ago. His songs all sounded the same, though, and it felt like he was making them up as he went."

ZD stared at him. "...and?"

"...and, frankly, I thought his instrument was out of tune the entire time he was here, but no one pointed it out."

"... _and...?"_

"...and, he wore, purple?"

" _...AND...?"_

Wingdings shrugged helplessly. "He was a bad bard; what more is there to say? I thought he would have made for a better farmhand, but Emma said-"

"ah-HA!" ZD slammed a fist on the table in triumph, nearly making Wingdings fall out of his chair. "NOW we're gettin' somewhere! sooo... emma, huh? that's an unusual name for a monster. definitely not a skeleton, but that's fine, you can marry whoever you want."

"M-MARRY?!" Wingdings yelped, blushing furiously. "We're just friends!"

ZD laughed. "friends, okay. that's still good. that's good. so where did you two meet?"

"Is this a part of the 'man talk'?"

"ye."

"Do I have to answer?"

"ye."

"I... we met in the village."

"no kiddin'."

"Well, we sort of just started seeing each other when we were out on the streets, and then we started meeting on purpose-"

"oh my~! and have our parents met her?"

"...They know _of_ her."

"...and they don't approve. ah, well, that's not anyone's fault but their own. i bet she's a nice young lady."

"She is..." Wingdings looked down at his book again to hide the small smile on his teeth. ZD noticed.

"oooh~ wingdings has a cruuuush~"

"Brother, please!"

"okay, okay, just one last thing. what's she like? what kind of monster is she?"

It was silent for a moment. ZD was smiling at his younger brother expectantly, and Wingdings was trying not to rip his scarf with how much he was fiddling with the edge. He opened his jaw, then closed it. He opened it again and managed to say, "she is..." before closing it again. This repeated for a few minutes, ZD slowly getting the following information out of him:

"She has brown hair." "She has eyes." "She has a nose and mouth." "She has two arms and two legs." "She can be incredibly stubborn (but sweet!)"

As more information was revealed, ZD's smile slowly slid from his teeth with realization.

"And... she wears a dress-"

"...she's human, isn't she?" Wingdings shut his mouth. "that's why our parents don't like her. 'cause she's a human. right?" Wingdings slowly nodded. ZD sighed. "aw, geez..." Wingdings put his hands in his lap, and ZD quickly tried to correct himself. "i mean, it's cool, alright? listen, wingdings, love is... weird. it can bring people together, and also divide a lot of people. i say, go for it. it'll be hard, but if you two work everything out, eventually everyone else will see this is a good thing for you."

Wingdings looked up. "Are you sure?"

"look, wingdings, you're a smart kid, and a good person in general. our parents just can't see that 'cause they're too short sighted. you need a better support group, 'cause lord knows this family ain't enough. i can tell you really like this girl, and i think she'd be good for you, from what very, _very_ little you've told me. am i wrong?"

"We're friends," Wingdings said again. "We speak our minds, we talk about our ambitions, she makes me feel happy, and for some reason I can't stop adjusting my glasses whenever she smiles at me..."

ZD smiled at him again, but it was a bit of a sad smile. "you goin' to see her soon?"

"At the battlement in the ruins, after the moon rises. We go there because it's private and quiet."

"sounds great. i'll cover for ya if our parents ask for ya."

"They won't, unless the moon gets all the way to the top of the sky. We don't usually stay out that late, but... thank you, ZD."

"anytime, squirt. now, take a look at this; you've been reading stuff by monster hershel layton, right?"

"Yes?"

"well, did you know his apprentice, monster luke triton, wrote a companion book on the mechanics of the golden bone puzzles and how to replicate them? haha, say no more, squirt. i see that look in your eye socket. now, you can technically start anywhere, but my personal favorite is chapter three..."

\---

The moon was almost at the top of the sky, shining its beams brightly on the mostly dry surface of the battlement. Wingdings finished chapter three of his new book and was about to close the book for the night when he heard footsteps slapping quietly against the stone steps. He turned to see a head of brown hair poke up at the top of the stairs.

"Emma! I was about to give up and go home. Is everything alright?" Emma walked up the last step and plopped down next to him. "Also, um, what are you wearing?"

"My nightie." She tugged the thin pink dress over her legs as much as she could.

"Oh. ...Why?"

"Well," she sighed, resting her chin on her hand, "Papa said I'm not allowed to come see you anymore." She lay the side of her face on her hand and looked up at him. "So I climbed out a window."

"...Oh."

It was silent for a moment, aside from the breeze rustling through the bushes around the ruins. "Well... my parents don't approve, either," Wingdings finally said, taking the end of his scarf and draping it around her shoulders. "So we're a pair of rebels, aren't we?"

Emma leaned into him. "Heh. Yeah."

**Author's Note:**

> FLUFFY BROTHER STUFF ALERT! I mean, it's a bit late, you already know. I've got to fix that alert system sometime. Eh, maybe later.  
> -  
> ZD is a royal mage, and at least in this story, he's away a lot advising for the royal monster family, only occasionally coming home to visit. It's more for the benefit of his siblings than his parents (he's made his thoughts about them quite clear in this story); poor guy has a lot on his plate.  
> -  
> Emma's father is a powerful sorcerer who wants Emma to practice offensive magic, but Emma would rather do it for fun (she can make bees appear out of thin air and Wingdings loves it). Her father (whose name was recently revealed to be Henrick) is also a bit mean to his daughter, to put it very, very lightly (just like Wingdings parents! They have so much in common! If only they didn't hate the other's species with a fuming passion).  
> -  
> This is an AU of an AU of the Handplates AU, so certain things from that original story apply here as well. Skeletons like head pats, speak in hand signs if their font is a cipher, have fuzz on their skulls (skeletons are soft and cuddly!), and Gaster loves the rain. Ah, the wonders of AU creation.  
> -  
> Emma and Gaster kind of gravitated toward each other, from what I can tell. They both like privacy and speaking their mind, and can be stubborn and blunt; thus, they become friends, and then eventually more. How will their relationship play out as the war continues to brew? I have to wait to find out, just like you all. Exciting stuff!  
> -  
> I've said this like three times now, but Ms. Emmibee, if you're reading this: thank you so much for sending me an AO3 invitation so I could post this here! And readers, PLEASE check out the AU's mentioned in this story! They're really good and deserve all the love. All of it.  
> -  
> Until then!


End file.
